iloveetwilightt wrote:Alice and Jasper are definitely one of my favorite couples. I think they both complete eachother, both having their terrible pasts Because they both have eachother, that gives them a reason to live.

I agree. They both had rough times, but now it's all good and they balance each other out. Alice is really hyper and Jasper's really calm, so..there you go.

I do. I was just noticing that on the Edward and Bella board, a lot of people are commenting on the problems in their relationship and wondered how many people like Alice and Jasper better. Jasper is protective of Alice without being overbearing. Jasper is protective in a sweet way. Edward could be overprotective, overbearing and controlling. Granted, Bella was weaker as a human, but I still found Edward's behavior to be a turnoff. Both Jasper and Edward are very chivalrous gentlemen, which makes sense since they both came from a different time. Alice pretty much does whatever she wants and Jasper never questions it-it's kind of funny. She decided they were leaving in BD, and Jasper followed. Edward seems to like being the one to make final decisions, whereas Alice does and gets whatever she wants and Jasper doesn't care. Alice is, in my opinion, more selfless than Bella. When she lied to Jasper before going to Italy in Eclipse because she knew she might die but couldn't stand it if Jasper got hurt, I thought so much of her. Bella continuously let Edward and the other Cullens fight for her. I know she was a human and couldn't really fight, but after a few times of people coming after you, you'd think she'd either insist on becoming a vamp immediately or let the bad guys get her.

I'd like to just point out a few things here- please don't take it personally.

First- the story is, after all, about Edward and Bella. Of course we're going to see more about their problems than any other- we aren't treated to the story from Alice's or Jasper's points-of-view (the closest we'll get is Edward's, once Midnight Sun is published).

I agree that Jasper is protective of Alice. I don't agree that Jasper is any less zealous of protecting Alice than Edward is of Bella. Sure, Edward takes it to extremes, given Bella's vulnerability as a human, but Jasper is just as extreme. He wanted to kill Bella to protect Alice- he was so intent on his decision that he didn't care what the Cullens decided. If it had not been for Alice's intervention, I'm sure he would have acted upon his plan. (Midnight Sun)

When Alice takes Jasper with her in Breaking Dawn, though I didn't know what was going to happen, I knew that Alice would never leave Jasper's side. Jasper would never leave her, either. I really doubt that he didn't question what Alice was up to- I'm sure he could sense her emotional turmoil when she realized what she had to do- but he would do anything for Alice, and so he went.

I suppose it does seem like Edward wants to have the final say in everything, but given his character, can you see him being any other way? He likes to know what's coming- his frustration at not hearing the thoughts behind Bella's words driving him insane is proof positive of that. He is after all the one to warn his family if something is amiss. Alice is, well, Alice- for lack of a better term. But she has just as difficult a time as Edward does, seeing as she has to watch out for and interpret who knows how many possible futures there are and choose the appropriate course of action.

Regarding Alice being selfless, I would have to disagree. Bella is much more selfless- she doesn't want anyone else to get hurt. In New Moon, Alice lied to Jasper so he wouldn't come, not wanting him to get hurt- even if it meant her death. Even if it meant Edward's death. Even if it meant Bella's death. Bella would never have wanted that to happen, if she had the choice.

Lastly, Bella doesn't let the Cullens continuously fight for her. The Cullens continuously fight for her, despite her protests otherwise. Remember how she didn't want them fighting the newborns in Eclipse? How she was vehemently opposed to Jacob and the pack joining the fight? She didn't want them to fight, but they made their choices.

As for the last comment about her vulnerability- she has been insisting on becoming a vampire- since Twilight! She has been wanting the bad guys to just get her and leave everyone else alone- again, since Twilight. Of course Edward has a lot to do with both issues, but you made it sound like she had a choice and didn't make it.

/end reply

On topic. After reading Breaking Dawn, and the first night Bella and Edward stay in their house (no knocking her house!), Edward tells her about the other couples and what they do at night. Which got me thinking.

If you were Alice or Jasper, would you or wouldn't you use your ability to "enhance" the experience?

Stephenie: She wants to know - she'd like to see Alice's story, she wants to know which narrative I may go off with. With Alice, I feel like Midnight Sun is almost from her perspective as well because Edward spends so much time in her head. He sees her visions, they communicate quite a lot without speaking, and so I don't really feel a lack there. But, of course, I'm the one one working on it and so I know what's there. At this point in time I'm not really thinking about doing prequels. I've had that suggested to me and maybe someday. It's not on my list right now. The characters that I will tell the story from in the future, if I were to go there, I can't tell you who those characters would be. Someone that you haven't met. OK, in the black sparkley dress.

ringswraith wrote:If you were Alice or Jasper, would you or wouldn't you use your ability to "enhance" the experience?

I immediately thought of Mel Gibson in What Women Want for Edward If only he could read Bella's mind. I would think Alice would be one lucky lady as Jasper would take very good care of her making her feel as best as possible.

You know you are too into Twilight when you look at your husband and think

I saw Twilight for the 2nd time on Saturday and I noticed something that I thought was interesting. When they are playing baseball and Alice says stop and they all realize what is going on, everyone runs to Bella except Jasper! Jasper runs to Alice and then goes to Bella! I thought that was sweet and shows how protective he is.

I do. I was just noticing that on the Edward and Bella board, a lot of people are commenting on the problems in their relationship and wondered how many people like Alice and Jasper better. Jasper is protective of Alice without being overbearing. Jasper is protective in a sweet way. Edward could be overprotective, overbearing and controlling. Granted, Bella was weaker as a human, but I still found Edward's behavior to be a turnoff. Both Jasper and Edward are very chivalrous gentlemen, which makes sense since they both came from a different time. Alice pretty much does whatever she wants and Jasper never questions it-it's kind of funny. She decided they were leaving in BD, and Jasper followed. Edward seems to like being the one to make final decisions, whereas Alice does and gets whatever she wants and Jasper doesn't care. Alice is, in my opinion, more selfless than Bella. When she lied to Jasper before going to Italy in Eclipse because she knew she might die but couldn't stand it if Jasper got hurt, I thought so much of her. Bella continuously let Edward and the other Cullens fight for her. I know she was a human and couldn't really fight, but after a few times of people coming after you, you'd think she'd either insist on becoming a vamp immediately or let the bad guys get her.

I'd like to just point out a few things here- please don't take it personally.

First- the story is, after all, about Edward and Bella. Of course we're going to see more about their problems than any other- we aren't treated to the story from Alice's or Jasper's points-of-view (the closest we'll get is Edward's, once Midnight Sun is published).

I agree that Jasper is protective of Alice. I don't agree that Jasper is any less zealous of protecting Alice than Edward is of Bella. Sure, Edward takes it to extremes, given Bella's vulnerability as a human, but Jasper is just as extreme. He wanted to kill Bella to protect Alice- he was so intent on his decision that he didn't care what the Cullens decided. If it had not been for Alice's intervention, I'm sure he would have acted upon his plan. (Midnight Sun)

When Alice takes Jasper with her in Breaking Dawn, though I didn't know what was going to happen, I knew that Alice would never leave Jasper's side. Jasper would never leave her, either. I really doubt that he didn't question what Alice was up to- I'm sure he could sense her emotional turmoil when she realized what she had to do- but he would do anything for Alice, and so he went.

I suppose it does seem like Edward wants to have the final say in everything, but given his character, can you see him being any other way? He likes to know what's coming- his frustration at not hearing the thoughts behind Bella's words driving him insane is proof positive of that. He is after all the one to warn his family if something is amiss. Alice is, well, Alice- for lack of a better term. But she has just as difficult a time as Edward does, seeing as she has to watch out for and interpret who knows how many possible futures there are and choose the appropriate course of action.

Regarding Alice being selfless, I would have to disagree. Bella is much more selfless- she doesn't want anyone else to get hurt. In New Moon, Alice lied to Jasper so he wouldn't come, not wanting him to get hurt- even if it meant her death. Even if it meant Edward's death. Even if it meant Bella's death. Bella would never have wanted that to happen, if she had the choice.

Lastly, Bella doesn't let the Cullens continuously fight for her. The Cullens continuously fight for her, despite her protests otherwise. Remember how she didn't want them fighting the newborns in Eclipse? How she was vehemently opposed to Jacob and the pack joining the fight? She didn't want them to fight, but they made their choices.

As for the last comment about her vulnerability- she has been insisting on becoming a vampire- since Twilight! She has been wanting the bad guys to just get her and leave everyone else alone- again, since Twilight. Of course Edward has a lot to do with both issues, but you made it sound like she had a choice and didn't make it.

/end reply

On topic. After reading Breaking Dawn, and the first night Bella and Edward stay in their house (no knocking her house!), Edward tells her about the other couples and what they do at night. Which got me thinking.

If you were Alice or Jasper, would you or wouldn't you use your ability to "enhance" the experience?

Interesting points. You're right-the story is of course about Bella and Edward, but I think that we get to see a fair amount of Alice and Jasper's relationship.

Yes, Jasper wanted to kill Bella in order to protect Alice BUT he didn't simply because Alice asked him not to. I don't think Edward would have done the same thing if the situation was reversed. When Edward decided to take Bella away after they 1st encountered James, Bella was pleading with him to stop and listen to her, telling him he couldn't take her away. But, Edward didn't listen to her. He eventually listened to Alice. Now, if this situation were reversed, I speculate that all Alice would have had to do is tell Jasper what she wanted and he would have listed and done what she wanted. That is why I think Jasper is protective in a sweet way, whereas Edward is overbearingly protective. I know that some people agree with me on this and some don't and that is OK. I can say that I definitely would not put up with a guy behaving like Edward.

A lot of people maintain that Bella is selfless, while others on this board think she is very selfish. It's funny that there are such different perceptions of the same character. I don't think she is completely selfish, but I don't think she is selfless either. I do think Alice is pretty selfless. The only selfish things she's done throughout the whole series are forcing Bella to have birthday parties, graduation parties, and a big wedding even though Bella didn't really want them. Still, it can be argued that she did this at least partially for Bella (and because she likes planning parties of course). She did a lot that she didn't want to do for other people, including leaving Forks in NM and leaving the family in BD. Also, in NM, Alice said she was going to do everything she could to bring Bella back alive. The whole reason they were going was to try to save Edward. Alice wasn't willing to risk Edward or Bella, she just realized that it was a possibility and didn't want anyone else to get hurt unnecessarily, which isn't selfish in my opinion. She was risking her life to try to save Edward.

As far as Bella having a choice about continuously letting the Cullens fight for her, I think she did part of the time. Particularly, in Eclipse, when she realized the Seattle newborns only wanted her and then Edward and Alcie left her alone after graduation. I expected her to take that opportunity to go to Seattle and sacrifice herself, but she didn't. Now, I realize that Alice would have seen her and the Cullens would have tried to stop her, but they may well have been too late. Carlisle had also promised to turn her into a vampire after graduation. She could have insisted that he do so immediately after graduation. That way, when the fight happened, she wouldn't have been as vulnerable. She also could have pushed Alice to do it sooner than graduation. I think she waited for somewhat selfish reasons. She wanted to become a vampire, but she was somewhat anxious about the pain, the loss of control, not being able to see her parents or human friends, etc. She put it off for awhile. I wonder whether she ever would have become a vampire if it had not been necessary for keeping her alive after Renesmee was born. She also waited because she made a deal so that Edward would be the one to change her. It could have been done sooner if she had let Carlisle or Alice do it, but she wanted Edward to do it. I realize everyone will have different opinions on all of these things. I know that some people agree with me that they like Alice and Jasper better than Bella and Edward. I know a lot of people think Bella can be selfish. I was just curious how many preferred Alice and Jasper, not trying to convince anyone that they are the better couple. ; )

Now, for your question...I don't know how helpful Alice's ability to see the future would be in enhancing the experience. But, Jasper probably could make them feel more passionate. However, I think they are so in love that it wouldn't be necessary. They probably have plenty of passion without him altering moods.